The Nokia N97 that was launched internationally a few weeks ago is now available in India for retail sale at a whopping price of Rs. 36,119.

This smartphone has solid construction and unlike the N95 and 96, features a QWERTY keypad and touch screen.

Its screen displays 16.7 million colors at a 640x360-pixel resolution. The phone boasts of a proximity sensor that automatically turns off the display when the user lifts the handset to his or her ear for a phone call.

It comes with a large 32GB internal flash memory expandable to 48GB. Inbuilt-GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 3G support are also available on the phone. It comes with a 5 megapixel camera.

The widget-based home screen on the N97 makes customizing easy and lets you have one-touch access to all your applications. The phone allows up to 8 widgets for Facebook, contacts, mediaplayer, maps, messages and more. Its battery offers an outstanding talk-time of 400 minutes.

However, Nokia has a long way to go before it can master the art of smartphone design, as there is much to be desired from the N97 that other smart phones have to offer. For one, the resistive touch screen is not as responsive as the capacitive touch screens on other smartphones and hence you will have to use a stylus at all times. Scrolling isn't a pleasent experience either. It also lacks multitouch capabilities and features an outmoded OS.

Although the phone is feature laden, the bottom line is that it is a bit outdated. The good news is unlike other smartphones, the price of the N97 can go downwards in the months to come.